A NORTH-EAST author is donating 60 per cent of the Kindle royalties earned from sales of his rescue-mutt themed novel, Winston and the Canny Lass, to a Sri Lankan dog charity set up by veterinary surgeon, Janey Lowes.

Barry Stone said he heard about the Barnard Castle vet and immediately proposed a fundraising partnership to help her in her quest to provide care for stray dogs in the country.

Mr Stone said: "Her charity WECare Worldwide is doing amazing stuff and after talking it over with my London-based publisher, Mike Wallington, I got in touch and proposed a fund-raising partnership. I was delighted that she responded with great enthusiasm."

Ms Lowes added: "The big dream for WECare is to form a world where no animal, owned or unowned, goes without veterinary care and by working alongside passionate, fellow big-dreamers like Barry, we hope to make this a reality sooner rather than later."

Barry’s initial plan was to give 25 per cent of the Kindle royalties but when he saw the footage of the neglected dogs he upped the figure to 60 per cent.

Winston and the Canny Lass is the second novel in Barry’s intended quartet, The Winston Tails and has so far sold more than 16,000 hard copies. Winston and the Canny Lass is £7.99 on Kindle.